Doing the Honors
by Passionate Cec
Summary: Jack comes home after his long day of meetings to have a chat with Sam about something that was bothering her. Part 3 of the Tying the Links series. Sequel to Girls Just Wanna Have Jell-O.


I am so, so sorry about the long wait. And I don't even have a valid excuse except that the muse has gone AWOL and I haven't been motivated to post because of that. Either way, I apologize profusely.

This is the 3rd part in the _Tying the Links_ series. It's a sequel to _Girls Just Wanna Have Jell-O_ and will explain a few things that I know some of you were wondering about. The idea is a bit daring I guess and I honestly can't remember where it came from. Maybe Charles Dickens' Bleack House? Those of you who have read it or seen the mini-series will know what I'm talking about. Anyway, I hope you will bare with me and won't shoot on sight in the reviews.

Talking about reviews. I don't think I really need to say what I'm getting at. Pretty please? Good or bad but let me know what you think.

Stargate SG1 and its characters don't belong to me. I make no money with this story. Its sole purpose is entertainment. No copyright infringement intended.

Enjoy. :)

**Doing the Honors**

Jack walked into the house, getting rid of his briefcase, shoes and overcoat. He had long since taken off his tie and unbuttoned the top of his button up shirt but he was still eager to get out of his dress blues. His wearing them every day did not mean he liked them any more than he did before he was summoned to the Pentagon. He peaked into the living room and found Sam slumbering on the couch, her warm afghan covering her legs, her hands resting protectively on her belly. Her head was resting on one of the cushions which she had propped up against the arm of the couch. The TV was still on but the sound was low creating a barely audible background noise.

He smiled and quietly walked up the stairs to their bedroom, making a bee line for the closet and changing into something much more comfortable. He then walked to Jake's room and pushed open the door, smiling when he saw the boy fast asleep in his crib. He was curled on his side, one hand up to his face as he sucked on his thumb while the other one held tightly onto his bright green stuffed dinosaur. Jack walked over and slipped his hand over the boy's head, caressing the soft dark blonde hair. He hoped his son would keep that hair color. His eyes were already brown and Jack wanted him to keep something of Sam's. But the soft strands were darker than when he was born already so he suspected he would end up looking more like him than his mom. She had always said he looked like his father. He had just kept denying it.

Maybe their daughter would look like Sam. He didn't know how he felt about that. He wanted his daughter to be beautiful, but he knew that way too many men – himself included – were interested in Sam because of her looks and he didn't want to have to kick boys away when she turned into a smart and beautiful teenager. He shook the thought away. She was still over two months away from being born. He had time to consider the question and decide whether or not they needed to permanently move to Minnesota and have her home schooled.

He leaned down to kiss his son's head and quietly left the room, moving back downstairs and into the living room, where Sam was still quietly sleeping. He sat down on the edge of the couch, his hand covering hers over their baby. She stirred and opened her eyes, smiling when she recognized him.

'Hey. I didn't hear you come in.'

'I noticed.' He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, helping her sit up. 'How are you doing?'

'Bit tired. What time is it?' Jack glanced at his watch while Sam grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

'2150.'

'Really? Wow. I didn't expect to fall asleep so early. I didn't expect you to be home so early.'

'Sorry to disappoint.' She rolled her eyes and settled against him, her head on his shoulder.

'You know I'm not disappointed.'

'Good. You wanna go to bed?'

'No. Not yet. You know when Daniel asked us if we had a name for her.'

'Yep. What about it?'

'I kind of have an idea. But I'm not sure how you're going to feel about it.' Jack frowned and looked down at the top of her head. She pulled away and looked at him, biting her lip.

'You never know until you try. Go ahead.'

'Charlotte.'

'I like it. What were you worried about?'

'The nickname I thought of.'

'Okay.' The last time he had seen her as hesitant had been when she had been about to blow up a star and he had given her a pep talk. 'Sam, sweetheart, what's wrong?'

'Charley.' She whispered. And Jack froze, looking at her.

'Charlie? Oh. Oh! C – H – A – R – L – E – Y?' She nodded. 'Oh.'

He was silent for a while, torn between the memories of his son and the name she had just suggested. Charlotte _was_ a beautiful name. And he couldn't think of a better way to honor Charlie than to name someone he would love as much as him after him. But wouldn't it mean he was more or less stealing his identity? He figured not. He was simply naming his daughter after him. Just like they had named their son after Sam's dad and Daniel had named his daughter after a woman he had loved and lost before he had a chance to be with her. It had amazed him at first that Vala had accepted, but he figured the woman could be incredibly understanding and caring when she wanted to be. And his Sam was nothing if not understanding and caring. Besides, there was nothing wrong with never wanting to forget about his first son and wanting his daughter to honor him, right?

In the mean time, Sam looked about ready to burst into tears. Her hands were shaking, her breathing was shallow though she was obviously trying to control her emotions and he could see wetness filling her eyes. Jack immediately felt bad for making her wait. She was hormonal and though it could seem like nothing, his obviously seeming indecisive about something as important as that was exactly the kind of thing that could make her emotions go nuts. She had to have expected him to need to think for a while but the expectation and worry was probably too much for her.

So he wordlessly pulled her into him, his arms tight around her back, his face pressed against her neck, kissing her skin repeatedly as her hands curled into the fabric of his shirt. Her hands were still shaking so he flattened his on her back and moved them up and down, in long, slow, leisurely strokes that seemed to make her feel better.

'I love it.' He whispered against her ear. 'I love it. It's perfect. And you're perfect.' Jack pulled away to look into her eyes. 'You are the most amazing woman in this universe.'

'Really?' Sam closed her eyes and shook her head. 'I mean, really, you like that name?'

'Yes! It's – God I couldn't have thought of anything better. And you thinking of a way to honor my Charlie is just… perfect.'

'You don't mind?'

'Why on Earth would I? You're giving me the chance to honor my son through one of our kids. I couldn't think of anything better.' Sam grinned brightly at him and he leaned in to kiss her deeply.

'We can still think about other names, you know.' She whispered against his lips. Jack pulled back and looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

'Nope. We're set. Our daughter will be called Charlotte O'Neill. Love the sound of that.' Sam laughed at his enthusiasm, any and all fear having left her body.

'So do I. We still need a middle name though.'

'We've still got time for that. For now, I want to know how you came up with that name.'

'My mom loved that name. She said she wanted to call me Charlotte. I ended up loving that name too and I was going to suggest it if Jake had been a girl. And then I thought about the nickname and I was worried about how you would react. I didn't want to suggest it unless we had a girl because I didn't want you to be disappointed if you liked it.' Jack grinned and kissed her again.

'You're perfect.' He whispered, his lips still brushing hers. 'And if we weren't already married I'd ask you to marry me right here, right now.' Sam chuckled and shook her head.

'I'd say yes.'

'Sweet. Care to move on to the part after the wedding.'

'No cake here, sorry.'

Jack chuckled and shook his head, poking her ribs once before leaning down to press and warm and wet kiss to her collarbone, pushing the fabric of her sweater to the side so he could get better access to her warm and soft skin. Sam sighed and her fingers threaded through his hair.

'Damn. But I was talking about the part after the cake. You know, when all the guests are gone.'

'Now I get it. Think we could move this to the bedroom though?'

He nodded against her chest and stood up, grabbing her hands to pull her up. He pulled her towards the stairs and grinned at her over his shoulder, the smile only brightening when she answered with one of her megawatt grins. _Oh, how he loved his wife._


End file.
